1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a showerhead for a semiconductor processing apparatus, and more particularly to a showerhead for reducing contamination during semiconductor material processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a typical plasma apparatus for etching and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of materials on wafers, process gases are supplied into a process chamber through a showerhead, and then radio frequency (RF) waves are applied to the showerhead so as to generate a plasma of the process gases. The plasma is used to remove materials by etching or for deposition of materials on wafers. Plasma etch conditions within a process chamber tend to create a significant ion bombardment of the surfaces thereof that are exposed to the plasma.
This ion bombardment, combined with plasma chemistries and/or etch byproducts, can produce significant erosion, corrosion and corrosion-erosion of the plasma-exposed surfaces of the process chamber. As a result, the surface materials are removed by way of physical and chemical attack. This attack causes problems including short part-lifetimes, increased consumable costs, and increased generation particles and/or contamination.
For the reason that there are disadvantages suffered by the prior art mentioned above, there is a need to propose a novel showerhead having materials that provide improved resistance to physical and chemical attack so as to increase the service life of the showerhead and minimize the associated contamination of semiconductor materials during plasma processing. Materials that can increase the service life of components of the equipment and thus reduce the down time of the apparatus could contribute to reducing costs, and/or increasing efficiency and quality, of the processing of such semiconductor materials.